Verso window framing · Houston

Verso Framing: Honoring the Biography of Your Artwork

An artwork's provenance is often written directly on its reverse side. Our custom verso windows transform the back of your frame into a permanent, museum-archival display, ensuring that gallery labels, exhibition stamps, and artist inscriptions remain safely visible, dust-sealed, and celebrated as vital chapters of your piece's history.

Verso window frame revealing the back of a Jackson Pollock work with inscriptions and gallery labels, SBAS Houston — Verso window · inscriptions kept visible

The provenance advantage

The biography of the object.

Turn over a well-traveled artwork and you discover its life story: the gallery label from its original sale, exhibition stamps from historic museum loans, auction house markings, and the artist's own handwritten dedications. Standard framing seals this history behind an opaque dust cover. A verso window keeps it in view — glazed, dust-sealed, and protected — allowing you to appreciate the artwork's provenance while maintaining the structural integrity of the frame package.

Double-sided fine display

Both faces, fully visible.

For works with significant artistic or historical value on both faces — such as double-sided drawings, preparatory sketches, vintage magazine covers, or historic correspondence — we fabricate fully double-sided floating frames. These are precision-engineered for pedestal mounting or dual-sided wall viewing, ensuring both sides of the work are fully supported and visible without compromising archival safety.

Curatorial access

Designed to be opened.

Our verso windows are designed to be accessible. For collectors and curators who need to periodically document, photograph, or authenticate inscriptions, we use specialized hardware that allows removal of the verso glazing without disturbing the main frame package or the artwork's primary mounting.

Selected work

Provenance, kept visible.

Niles Spencer painting On the Coast, front of frame, SBAS Houston — Niles Spencer, *On the Coast*, 1921 · front

Verso window revealing historic gallery labels on the Niles Spencer painting — The verso window · provenance sealed and visible

1934 Time Magazine framed, front view, SBAS Houston — Time Magazine, 1934 · front

Verso window revealing the illustrated back cover of the 1934 Time Magazine — The back cover, through a verso window

Jackson Pollock 1944 greeting card in a double-sided standing frame, front, SBAS Houston — Jackson Pollock, *Greeting Card*, 1944 · front

Reverse of the Pollock greeting card in its double-sided standing frame — The reverse · both sides framed with equal importance

Riley Wilson lithograph Left in a black walnut frame, front, SBAS Houston — Riley Wilson, *Left* · front

Verso window presenting a poem floated in an 8-ply mat behind the lithograph — A paired poem, floated in the verso window

Begin

Once a work is yours, make us the first call.

Consultations at our Taft Street showroom, or at your home or office.

Schedule a Consultation